During the past 10 years, Information Technology (IT) infrastructures have experienced significant growth due to the increased availability of distributed computing environments and inexpensive and robust servers. Systems management refers to enterprise-wide administration of distributed computer systems. The main tasks involved in system management include: deployment of new software components; update of software components (e.g., patch management); automation of standard procedures; centralised and delegated control of IT components; and monitoring of IT components; etc. The task of system management is becoming increasingly difficult because of the ever-increasing complexity of today's IT environments and the growing use of pervasive devices (e.g. Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs)). There are a number of enterprise software distribution programs currently available (e.g., International Business Machines' (IBM's) Tivoli Software Distribution program) which enable administrators to install, configure, and update software on networked systems. These software distribution programs can implement “push” (i.e. a reverse client/server or server-initiated) or “pull” (client initiated) procedures to identify non-compliant recipient devices and transmit messages thereto to cause disseminated agents on the recipient devices to execute a distribution command (e.g., installation code), possibly using associated distribution data, and thereby update their software. In a push communication procedure a request for a service is initiated by the service provider. In contrast, in a pull communication procedure, a request for a service is initiated by a requester.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and system which alleviate the drawbacks of the prior art.